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Claire and Luke Tomlinson

The former No 1 British female polo player, 65, and her son, 32, captain of the England polo team

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July 12 2009, 1:00am, The Sunday Times

CLAIRE: Luke wasn't keen on riding when he was young. I don't know whether it was a reaction because his older sister, Emma, was on a horse all day long. I wanted him to enjoy riding simply because it's a family thing. I started playing polo seriously in 1963, then I captained the Oxford University team and the English women's team, and now my husband, Simon, and I are the biggest breeders of polo ponies in Britain. I was riding up to 24 hours before Luke was born. But you don't want to push your children into it so hard that they go the other way and reject it.

A friend of ours suggested he try the tetrathlon, which is shooting, running, swimming and riding.…